Lions U15s end season with Israel tour

London Maccabi Lions U15 capped off their season as manager Darren Dryer took 11 players from their squad – accompanied by a group of parents – on a dream weekend football tour to Israel.

The team played in an eight-team tournament at the American School in Even Yehuda, which is organised each year by the Ben Dror family in memory of former Israel national team player Israel Ben Dror.

The tournament featured youth academy teams from a number of Israeli first division clubs including Maccabi Tel Aviv, Maccabi Petach Tikva, Ashdod and Maccabi Haifa, all of whom had qualified from a national competition.

The second day saw them pay a visit to Kibbutz Misgav-Am, before they played a match at the stadium in Kiryat Shmoneh in front of the local mayor and an enthusiastic crowd close to 200.

Dryer said: “It was a great experience for the boys and they acquitted themselves well with one win, one draw and two defeats, despite the heat. We are very grateful to Ilan Ben Dror and the Ben Dror family for inviting us as the overseas guest team. Hopefully another Lions team can go next year to fly the flag for Britain!”

Team captain Zak Zamet said: “It was a fantastic experience to play in Israel and get the chance to meet boys from all backgrounds playing in the Israeli teams. Our player of the trip was definitely goalkeeper Reuben Rabstein who pulled off a string of impossible saves to keep us in the games!”L